This article presents a case study of 10 high-profile Australian research scientists. These scientists are highly committed to engaging with the public. They interact with a wide range of groups in the community, including the traditional media. They are aware that they are seen as representatives of science at a time when the authority of science…

This paper describes a study of whether and how collaborative learning at the computer fosters conceptual change. A suite of computer simulation programs developed to confront students' alternative conceptions in mechanics was integrated into a grade 10 science class in a high school in Melbourne, Australia. A Conceptual Test was administered as a…

A year-long study in 1991 that aimed to develop self-assessment skills in one third-grade class in Australia is reported. The roles that the length and naturalistic features of the study played in the success of skill development are explored. The class contained 20 students, ages 8-9 years, present for the whole school year (four 11-week terms).…

This case study describes a preservice program for prospective high school science teachers at Monash University in Victoria, Australia. The program views student teaching as only the first stage of career-long professional development, promotes the notion of the reflective practitioner, maximizes student teachers' contacts with school pupils and…

One of the clear findings of recent research on the learning of science has been that students who have completed science courses commonly use conceptions held before instruction to interpret natural phenomena. This paper reports on a study of conceptual change in mechanics with particular concern with the nature of student awareness of any…

Reports results of a large-scale study that investigated the knowledge of gravity and related principles of mechanics possessed by first-year physics students (N=468) at Monash University, Australia. One conclusion is that students know a lot of physics but do not relate it to the everyday world. (CS)

The broad focus of this study was on the role students' existing conceptions play in the process of constructing and understanding mechanics concepts. The study was a naturalistic one, conducted over a number of years, at all grade levels, in one all-boys secondary school in Australia. In particular it was concerned with identifying and…